title: Accuracy of caregivers' recollections of caregiving hassles.
abstract: Despite their common use in clinical settings, caregivers' recollections of the hassles they face in caregiving have not been examined in previous research. Ninety-seven spousal caregivers of persons with dementia were assessed for 6 consecutive months concerning caregiving hassles and numerous other issues. A multi-pass rank order assessment identified the most stressful event in caregiving over each month-long interval. Each month via telephone interview, caregivers' recollections of the most stressful event in the previous month were assessed; no retrieval cues were provided. Of a total of 582 retrieval events examined, 378 (65%) were correct, 84 (14%) were incorrect, and 120 (21%) were not remembered. These data indicate that a majority of caregivers are capable of accurate recollection of caregiving hassles after a delay of one month following very careful ranking procedures, but also that individual differences in accuracy are present.
authors.affiliation: Department of Individual and Family Studies, University of Delaware. jcc@udel.edu
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Cavanaugh
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kinney
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male